On Wednesday, the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP) withdrew its support for the UK’s assisted dying bill.
The move deals a significant setback to proponents of the legislation ahead of its return to the House of Commons today.
This development comes as Scotland’s own assisted dying proposals cleared their first legislative hurdle earlier this week.
Dr Lade Smith, President of the RCP, stated: “The RCP has reached the conclusion that we are not confident in the Terminally Ill Adults Bill in its current form, and we therefore cannot support the Bill as it stands.”
The decision is particularly important given that, under the bill’s provisions, psychiatrists would play a role on the panels tasked with reviewing assisted dying cases.
The RCP’s shift follows close on the heels of criticism from the Royal College of Physicians, which recently expressed serious concerns over the bill’s safety, citing “deficiencies” that pose risks to both patients and healthcare providers.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “The Royal College of Psychiatrists has correctly recognised that Leadbeater’s shambolic Bill is riddled with major issues that have simply not been addressed”.
“There are now so many problems with the Bill, which has been defined by the removal of key safeguards and legitimate concerns being dismissed or ignored”.
“This is simply not good enough for an issue which is, quite literally, a matter of life and death. We call upon all MPs to vote against this dangerous Bill at Third Reading”.
The bill, which has been debated for months, was introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater.